Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: All the B/A episodes, Silent Night, and Destiny's Children
Summary: Aftermath of Destiny's Children. Mucho angst.

The day after, it rained. Actually, it drizzled down. Sunnydale was unusually cold and clammy. It fit with Willow's mood perfectly.

She stood in front of the window in her apartment, staring out at the streets through the rain. A numb feeling seemed to surround her as she watched the rain come down over Sunnydale.

Buffy was dead.

Willow felt lost. Xander and Anya were taking care of Pearl. Giles and Spike were with Angel, trying to keep him from joining his love. And she was in her metal particle board tower, watching the drizzle.

Turning away from the window, she walked to the heavy leather tome that lay on the living room table. Reaching up as she passed underneath it, Willow pulled the cord to the overhead light, and the apartment went dark, except for the dim light through the windows.

She sat down in front of the book. Taking a deep breath, she lit the two candles on the table. Willow bowed her head before opening the book.

Her fingers flipped the vellum pages aside, until she found the page that she was looking for. Her blue eyes focused on the candle in front of her. Focused, and narrowed.

After a few minutes of intense staring, it burst into flame. With a sad smile, Willow sat back in the chair.

It was time.

***

Angel stared out of the window of the mansion. An impotent rage burned within him. From beside the door that led out of the room stood Spike, who was watching his Sire warily.

"Why are you still here?" he said quietly. Spike nearly jumped. Composing himself, the blonde replied "Because I promised her I would."

He laughed bitterly. "Why do you care?"

"Because come Hell, Fire, or a really pissed off Archdemon, I happen to like the Slayer's little cutie. Don't ask me why, maybe Dru rubbed off on me a bit, but I owe the kid her father at least. You die, she'll never forgive you." replied Spike, eying his Sire. "And I'll just have Willow anchor your soul around even longer, so forget about it. You're not falling on a stake. Besides, it's harder than it sounds."

"Why should I stay?" asked Angel.

Spike sobered. "For Pearl's sake."

***

Willow blew out the last candle, and let her head fall onto the book.

Four hours of conjuring, re-reading the book, and petitioning the Gods had got her nowhere.

"Damnit!" she cried out suddenly, smacking the table. One of the candles rocked. "Where did they send your soul, Buffy?"

She had tried a seance, a basic soul calling, an Ouija board, and every type of scrying her brain could think of. Then she thought of something. "They wouldn't have."

Willow picked up her bag of runes, and stared at it, remembering the runes that she had cast. "A journey... Why can't they just let her go to Heaven? She's suffered enough already!"

Predictably, no one answered.

******

Willow lifted her head from the book she had let her head fall on. "Oh." she murmured. "I guess I fell asleep."

The buzzing sound gradually impinged on her awareness, and she shuffled over to the button that opened the downstairs door. "Who's there?" she called, yawning slightly.

"It's Forest."

She buzzed him in, and stared at the mirror in the hallway. The letters had let light impressions on her face where it had been resting on the book. "I've got book face." she muttered.

Forest knocked, and she let him in. "So what's up?" she asked him wearily.

"The Initiative is adjusting. I've been put in command until further notice." said Forest. "How are you doing?"

Depressed, she sighed. "I've been trying to call up Buffy's spirit in seances, rituals, even staring into a bowl of water for two hours straight. And the runes I've pulled just don't make sense...."

Forest looked very serious. "What's going on?" asked Willow.

"There's been militia groups around the world using biological weapons. Countries have been falling apart. Did you turn on the radio or TV today?"

"No." said Willow. "Why?"

"Somebody planted a bomb with a mutated strain of something in LA. It's spreading fast. A lot of people."

Willow's knees nearly folded. Forest grabbed her arm, and helped her over to the couch. "I saw it. The runes I cast said that there would be a journey, and that there would be war... And now..."

"Hey. It isn't your fault." said Forest. He looked down at the floor. "I've found a way to save some people. The Initiative worked on some pretty cool stuff, and some of the scientists developed a sort of stasis a while back to hold demons and stuff in. We're adapting it right now to hold humans. There's enough room for the entire Initiative, and five others. Plus a small stasis cell for a pet."

"That's amazing, Forest!" said Willow. "So if any viruses come here..."

"We throw in our cards, and start sticking people in stasis. But... There's no way we're outfitted to take children."

"Pearl." said Willow. "Angel can take her someplace isolated, where the disease can't reach."

"Right." said Forest. "The Initiative is shutting down as we speak. The demons are being euthanized."

Willow nodded. "So people are preparing to be frozen."

Forest smiled slightly. "Something like that." He leaned over, and put his arm around Willow, who sighed, and curled up next to him.

"These last few days have been Hell." she murmured. "Buffy... Druscilla... and everything that's happened."

"Hey. It'll be alright." said Forest. "You want me to go?"

Willow shook her head. "No. I'd like you to stay."

***

Pearl slept in her crib, a small smile on her face. Spike stared down at his step-sister, then gently reached down and picked her up.

Angel was waiting in the foyer of the mansion. "Cordelia and Doyle drove to the villa early this morning. The stuff is in the car."

"The let's get out of here." said Spike. "I'm not waiting around to test my immunity to disease."

***

The memorial service was grim. There hadn't even been ashes left of Buffy. Anya and Xander stood together, silent in their grief. Most of the Initiative had come, and Forest stood with Willow beside the grave. Giles stood opposite them Mrs. Summers was nowhere to be seen.

The funeral seemed to speed by, and Anya found herself sitting on a bench under a tree, sketching the somber scene. She looked up as Xander approached. "Xander..."

"I loved her first, and wanted her. Then she became a sister to me and Willow." Xander whispered brokenly. "Dammit, where is Angel? And where did he take Pearl?"

"Angel probably took her someplace safe." said Anya quietly. "I saw him leaving with Spike yesterday."

"He could have at least come to her funeral." said Xander.

"Xander, let it go." said Anya. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"I..." Xander looked down. "Let's go home, Anya."

Giles began to cough loudly, doubling over as if in pain. People began to back away from him. The Initiative exchanged looks. Xander tried to move forwards, but Anya grabbed his arm. "Leave it alone, Xander. The Initiative will put him in stasis. There's nothing you can do."

They were sheparded away by men in white suits then. Anya took one last look at Buffy's grave, then followed Xander out of the graveyard.

***

Willow was working side by side with the Initiative's top people backing up all of the memory banks of the Initiative. The backups would be sealed in a steel box beneath Sunnydale.

The AI program that would maintain the complex while they lay in stasis had been given Maggie Walsh's face as a nod to the valient woman who had done so much. It was programmed to turn on once Forest gave the voice command.

"How are you doing?" asked Forest from behind her.

"I'm tired, but I'm nearly done." Willow hesitated. "How is Giles?"

"He's been put in stasis." said Forest. "Xander and Anya will be coming down this evening once they've settled everything. About the rat you brought down..."

"Oh, you mean Amy?" said Willow. "She's a witch. She turned herself into a rat to escape a mob who wanted to burn her at the stake."

Forest shook his head. "You'll have to tell me about that sometime."

Willow smiled. "Maybe someday I will." she said. The two kissed softly.

"Hey!"

They broke the kiss, and looked at the tech who had spoken. "We're done here."

"Go down to the cryo bay, then, and prepare for stasis." said Forest. The techs hurried away as two commandoes came and took the large steel box away to be buried somewhere underneath the giant complex.

"Are you ready?" he asked Willow.

Willow rubbed her sweaty palms against her lab coat. She suddenly felt light headed. "Yeah."

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty." he said, taking her by the arm. "Let's go put you to sleep."

***

Anya watched the sun fade over the horizon, and then turned away to put the last touches on the painting of Buffy holding the sword over her head. Beside it was the painting of the funeral.

Xander enfolded her in his arms from behind, and she leaned back, catching his lips in a passionate kiss. "Let me sign this, and we'll go." Anya told him.

She dipped a brush into the black paint and scrawled her name in the corner of the canvas. The two left the apartment.

*****Cordelia watched the sky begin to lighten as the sun slowly rose. She stood in front of the large picture window on the uppermost level.

"Princess?"

She turned, and saw Doyle watching her from the doorway of their bedroom. "Doyle, do you think that they're alright?"

"Angel thinks so. He says that the Initiative promised to take care of them." replied Doyle. He walked over to stand beside Cordelia, and put an arm around her waist. "And he seems to think that we can trust them."

"But what do you think?" asked Cordelia anxiously, twisting the stem of her wineglass between her fingers. Doyle took the wineglass, and set it on a nearby endtable.

"I think they'll be fine." he told her.

Cordelia nodded, and stared out over the desert as the sun broke over the horizon. With a small smile, she nodded, and followed Doyle out of the room.

***

Millions of people died in the months and years to follow, from the rampaging diseases and war. Sunnydale was sealed off from the world, and ignored as the US government fell.

Cordelia, Doyle, and Angel waited eagerly for word from Sunnydale about their friends. Years passed, until it became evident that there would be no reply.

Spike ended up coming and going from the Summers villa as he wished, sometimes disappearing for months on end to return with word of the wars and diseases that swept the world.

Meanwhile, Pearl Summers grew up to be a beautiful teenager.

Next up: Black Roses

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